Alkalemia and Hepatic Encephalopathy in a Chronic Dialysis Patient.

Am J Med Sci

Department of Medicine, St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States; Division of Nephrology, St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States.

Published: August 2021

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) includes cognitive, psychiatric and neuromotor abnormalities observed from brain dysfunction secondary to liver disease and/or porto-systemic shunting. HE can have a wide range of clinical manifestations ranging from trivial lack of awareness, decreased attention span, personality changes to confusion, seizures, coma, and death. The onset of HE in cirrhosis is a poor prognostic factor. While HE has a complex pathogenesis which is not completely understood, hyperammonemia plays an important role in neurotoxicity and brain dysfunction. Alkalemia facilitates the conversion of NH to NH, which is free to cross the blood-brain barrier exacerbating HE. Prompt recognition and correction of underlying risk factors is central to the management of HE.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amjms.2020.12.016DOI Listing

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